Friday, September 27, 2013

Native Wildflower Restoration

September 28th is "Your State Parks Day" in Georgia!  Tomorrow, for this one day only, all the state parks will allow you to park for FREE!  It's a great time to get out and enjoy all of the state parks and if you are in Georgia you should try and go, beautiful weather has been forecast for the entire state.


In conjunction with this day, they are asking for volunteers for different service projects.  At Panola Mountain State Park, they have asked for folks to come out in the morning and plant wildflowers in a large field within the park.  Would I like to do that?  What do you think?  You know that I will be there! All the wildflowers will be from Georgia and beautyberry should be one of those that we will plant, as it is native to this area.  Wish me luck!

What are your plans for this weekend, do tell!  Hope it will bring you as much joy as planting wildflowers!







Not sure of the name but this wildflower is growing at Panola Mountain State Park right now!

 


Beautyberry!

22 comments:

  1. I've seen that beautyberry before and wondered what it was. I do love wildflowers and wish I could plant some with you.

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    1. Yes! I remembered that you liked the beautyberry, so I hoped that you would see this! I will be thinking of you when I am planting the flowers and I think it will be a special blessing to them and it will make them thrive! :-)

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  2. Hardly a better way to spend your weekend than planting wildflowers! (Only that they won't be "wild" then anymore, strictly speaking...)
    Your header photo looks great, let me guess - Richard took it?
    The flowers in the first picture look like miniature asters to me.

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    1. Did you notice the title of my post, "Native Wildflower Restoration"?
      The idea is that these native flowers are being restored to where they have been taken away! These plantings are not being done in a formal garden or walkway but in a former pasture, which is a field used now for bird-watching, it is just beside the Rockdale River Trail. So, they really will be wild!
      And yes, Meike, you got it just right, that header photo was taken by Richard and it is at Panola State Park! It is Alexander Lake and I will walk right by there on my way to plant wildflowers!

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  3. What a lovely idea and such a great way to spend the weekend. I'll be transforming the elderberries I picked last weekend into cordial - lots of vitamin C for the winter. x

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    1. Hey Julie! Elderberry cordial, sounds positively wonderful! It reminds me of Dot from Eastenders drinking sherry for "medicinal purposes"! HA!
      Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. xx

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  4. What a wonderful thing to do! And once they are planted where they belong, I imagine they should be self-sustaining. And no one should pick them! I love wildflowers. My grandparents lived beside a huge park and I could walk into it and see the beautiful spring flowers......And there was a large field on the way to the woods where I could see summer and fall wildflowers. So lovely! I wish all children could have the chance to see these the beauty of the natural world.

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    1. It was wonderful! The time just flew by! I love wildflowers too!
      There were many children that helped in the planting on Saturday, and I hope that it will stay with them, the joy of digging into the earth and planting!

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  5. I love wild flowers and there is such little habitat left for them to grow in. Parks are one of the last remaining untouched places.

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    1. Oh boy, Debra, you are so right. Georgia has become so developed, you just would not believe it... That's why I think that it is so important to make sure that these parks have as many native wildflowers as possible!

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  6. Hi Kay! Those are spectacular specimens of common mullein! They do look like miniature saguaro cacti! Ours usually don't branch as much ~ maybe because we don't have as much rain as you do. I hope you have a blast planting wildflowers! What an awesome thing to do. Terry and I are having some R&R in Black Hawk. The mountains, with their turning aspen and dusting of snow on the high peaks, are spectacular! You just can't top the natural world. Thanks for what you do to support it! Take care! *hugs*

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    1. I love the sound of the mountains with the aspen and the dusting of snow on the high peaks, sounds spectacular to me too!!
      I'm not any kind of expert on the natural world, but I hope that my love for it shines through! :-)

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  7. Kay- I think the blue flower is the Hardy Ageratum or Eupatorium. It is a thing of beauty!

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    1. Thank you so much, Betsy! I just looked it up and that is IT! I also love another name for it, the Blue Mistflower! LOVELY! Thanks again! xx

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  8. I've been seeing those beautyberries everywhere ~ we're in Hilton Head this weekend and I've seen them here too! I love those. So great that you volunteered to plant wildflowers!!!!

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    1. You would have loved the planting and your girls would have loved it too!!
      Hilton Head? LUCKY YOU!!! xxx

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  9. Those lavender flowers remind me of ageratum. I like the mullein in your header photo - looks just like ours!

    Those beautyberries are simply gorgeous. Hope you enjoyed your wildflower planting day - that would be a project after my own heart. :)

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    1. Hey Sue! Yes, ageratum, that is the name of it, thank you! I might have to do a post about mullein, I find it very interesting and beautiful!
      You would have loved planting with the nice group of folks that we had, it truly was a labor of love! xx

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  10. Oooo, gorgeous photos, Kay! We have three beautyberry bushes in our backyard and they are so beautiful right now. Problem is that he mockingbirds love the berries and will soon have them bare...

    It sounds like you were having an amazing weekend! We are so enjoying this gorgeous fall weather...

    Love, Silke

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    1. Thanks, Silke! You have THREE beauty berry bushes! How wonderful!
      This past weekend our weather was just perfect! Shhh...let's not talk too much about it, everyone will want to flock to Georgia!
      Lovely to see your comment. Take care.
      Love,
      Kay

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  11. Alas, I just looked up wild ageratum and found it available at Painted Flower Farm in Texas and it's only hardy from zones 7-10. I live in zone 5, and though I have a few micro climates around the house which are probably zone 6, it's still not enough.....
    I've seen a wild ageratum that can live here, but it's not that beautiful soft shade of blue.....

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    1. Oh, but I wonder...could you not grow forget-me-nots? Scroll down and see my forget-me-nots from England! That is a blue that is such a beautiful shade!
      (And I even grew some forget-me-nots in a pot this summer!)
      You will just have to visit your brother in Georgia and see this ageratum! xx

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